Ashley Graham Ervin is an American model and television presenter. Graham made her debut on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2016. A year later, she published her first book, A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like, which contributes to her advocacy in the body positivity and inclusion movement.
Plus-size clothing is clothing proportioned specifically for people above the average clothing size. The application of the term varies from country to country, and according to which industry the person is involved in.
Joanne Borgella was an American plus-size model, singer and reality television personality. She was signed to Wilhelmina Models in New York City, Miami and LA. She was the first winner of Mo'Nique's Fat Chance pageant as "Miss F.A.T." in 2005 and a top 24 contestant on the seventh season of American Idol in 2008. Borgella died October 18, 2014, due to a rare form of endometrial cancer.
A plus-size model is an individual size 12 and above who is engaged primarily in modeling plus-size clothing. Plus-size clothing worn by plus-size models is typically catering for and marketed to either big, tall or overweight men and women. Plus-size models also engage in work that is not strictly related to selling clothing, e.g., stock photography and advertising photography for cosmetics, household and pharmaceutical products and sunglasses, footwear and watches. Therefore, plus-size models do not exclusively wear garments marketed as plus-size clothing. This is especially true when participating in fashion editorials for mainstream fashion magazines.
The tenth cycle of America's Next Top Model was the fourth season of the series to be aired on The CW network. The promotional catchphrase of the cycle is "New Faces, New Attitude, New York". The promotional song was "Feedback" by Janet Jackson.
Whitney Lee Thompson Forrester is an American plus-size model and is the winner of the tenth cycle of America's Next Top Model.
Christina Mendez is a New York City-based plus-size model and entertainment personality.
Amy Lemons is an American fashion model and model advocate. She rose to fame quickly by landing the cover of Italian Vogue at age 14. Her ascent in the modeling industry included shooting the covers of Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Elle and Marie Claire. She also landed campaigns for Abercrombie and Fitch, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Jil Sander, and Louis Vuitton. After a brief hiatus to earn her college degree from UCLA, Amy came back to the modeling industry and began speaking out about the industry's "zero-sized standard" and healthy self-esteem for young women.
Victoria Nelson (Janashvili) is an American fashion photographer, book author, and entrepreneur.
Rosie Mercado is an American plus-size model, celebrity makeup artist, fashion designer and television personality of Mexican descent. She is best known for starring in reality television show Curvy Girls on NuvoTV and featuring on National Geographic Channel's Taboo. She is currently a special correspondent and life coach on the TV shows The Doctors and Dr. Phil and a co-host on the entertainment talk show Face the Truth.
Ryann Maegen Hoven, known professionally as Tess Holliday and formerly known as Tess Munster, is an American plus-size model, blogger, and make-up artist based in Los Angeles.
Tara Lynn is an American plus-size model from Tacoma, Washington. She is best known as a lingerie model for plus-size clothing.
Denise Mercedes is an American plus-size fashion model and clothing designer from New Jersey. She has been featured on BuzzFeed, Refinery29, and FabUplus Magazine. Mercedes is known for her clothing line with Rebdolls. She is the founder of the #becauseitsmybody campaign, a collaborative photography campaign that encourages body positivity.
Tanesha Awasthi is an influential fashion blogger, designer, and advocate for body positivity. She is best known for her fashion blog, Girl With Curves.
Miss USA 2016 was the 65th Miss USA pageant, held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 5, 2016. Terrence J and Julianne Hough all hosted for the first time, while Ashley Graham served as the backstage host. All fifty states and the District of Columbia competed. Olivia Jordan of Oklahoma crowned her successor, Deshauna Barber of the District of Columbia, at the end of the event. Barber became the first African American to win the Miss USA title since Crystle Stewart in 2008, and this was District of Columbia's third title and the first title since 2002. Barber represented the United States at the Miss Universe 2016 pageant, where she placed in the Top 9.
Swimsuits For All is an online retailer for women's swimwear, specializing in sizes 4 and up. It was founded in 2005 by current CEO and President Moshe Laniado, and was acquired in October 2014 by New York-based plus size fashion company, Fullbeauty Brands. Swimsuits For All is well known for pushing boundaries when it comes to body diversity, having initiated several marketing campaigns to inspire women to feel confident in a swimsuit no matter their size.
Denise Marie Bidot is an American plus-size fashion model.
Candice Huffine is an American plus-size model represented by NEXT Models. A former teenage beauty queen, she signed her first modeling commercial contract in 2000 and has since crossed over from the commercial world into high fashion.
Jane Dipika Garrett is a Nepalese beauty-pageant title-holder and body-positivity advocate who competed in the 2023 Miss Universe. In November 2023, Jane gained international attention, after she created history by becoming the first plus-size contestant to participate in an international beauty pageant competition. She represented Nepal at Miss Universe 2023 and placed as a semi-finalist, the first Miss Nepal in the top twenty since 2018. Her placement marked the first time that a plus-sized contestant had ever reached the semi-finals.
